Concrete-block machine.



L. B. LARSEN.

GONURETE BLOCK MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 1909.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES.

c. 711 cm UNI LUDWIG B. LARSEN, OF PORTLAND OREGON.

CONCRETE-BLOCK MACHINE.

oioeaa.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

Application filed April 17, 1909. Serial No. 490,611.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUDWIG B. LARSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete-Block Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates generally to an apparatus for molding two-part building blocks composed of concrete or the like and provided with a tying bond, and specifically to such an apparatus provided with a collapsible and adjustable bond-setting iore.

One object of the invention is the provision of such an apparatus embracing a collapsible core adapted to be easilyassembled and locked in operative position in the mold and maintained therein in rigid manner while performing itsfunction as a core and temporary bond support and at the same time adapted to be readily collapsed in the operation of its withdrawal from the mold, the several parts of the core being locked against accidental disengagement in the assembling of said parts in cooperative position.

Another object is to provide a core provided with means adapted, when the core is in operative position in the mold, to support the tying bond in desired relative position during the introduction into th mold of the plastic block material and to release said bond from engagement with the core after the material has been tamped in the mold and sufficiently set to maintain said bond in proper tying position.

Another object is the provision of means whereby the core may be locked in the mold in different positions to form blocks the members of which may be of varying thickness.

With these and other objects in view the invention will now be described in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective illustrating the mold, mold stand, and collapsible core in operative position. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section, partly in elevation, of the core and cooperating parts. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a vertical section on line H of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 55 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a broken perspective illustrating the means of locking the removable front face of the mold to the sides thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein the preferred details of my invention are illustrated and wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, 1 denotes the mold section generally, comprising a detachable face plate 2 formed with any desired convolutions for producing the ornamental face of the finished block, rear wall 3 and duplicate side walls 4. Fall 3 is rigidly attached to framework 5 which is preferably formed of metal and constructed as illustrated and de signed to support pallet plate 6 on which the mold rests while the block is being molded and on which the latter, when sufficiently set is removed from the mold. Hangers 7 are suitably attached to the front of framework 5 to support in convenient situation the detachable face plate 2. Side walls 4 are connected to rear wall 3 through .the medium of hinges 8, said side walls being thus adapted to be swung toward the rear of the mold and entirely off the pallet plate to permit the ready removal of the molded block from the mold after the core has been collapsed and removed, latches 9, of suitable cotiperating parts on side walls and face plate, serving to maintain the latter in desired rigid engagement with said side walls while the block is being molded and adapting said face plate for convenient detachment when desired.

10 denotes the collapsible core comprising top plate 11 and duplicate, movable side walls 12. Angle plates 13 are rigidly attached by any desired means to the under surface of top plate 11 and are spaced from each other approximately a distance equal to that designed to separate the tying bonds when in operative position in the members of the finished block. The depending members of these angle plates are of such lateral dimension as to lie, when the top plate and side walls of the core are assembled in cooperative relation, appropriately spaced from the latter to permit collapse of the core, as will be explained hereinafter, and are formed on their inner faces each with a plurality of downwardly converging locking-grooves 14, designed to receive cooperating locking lugs 15 appropriately positioned on side walls 12 and formed to seat in said grooves as the side walls assume their cooperative engagement with said top Wall in assembling the core. These grooves and lugs will thus securely lock said top wall and side walls in desired position and effectively prevent any undesirable lateral or longitudinal play between said parts and, due to their conformation and position, cause the side walls, when an upward pull is exerted upon said top wall, to approach each other sufiiciently to draw away from the contacting block material, thus collapsing the core and permitting its ready removal from the mold.

l6 denotes bond-supporting latches formed, as shown in Fig. 2, of members disposed at approximately right angles and depending from top plate 11 of the core through slots 17 formed of appropriate length to permit limited movement of said latches longitudinally of the core when desired, said movement being incidental to the operative engagement and support and release of the bond by the latches. The latches are provided with hand holds of any desired design and of sufficient size to retain them in cooperative engagement with the top plate. The lower members of these latches are designed to be disposed in approximately horizontal position and pass through appropriately positioned apertures 18 formed in the angle plates 13 the end of said lower members engaging beneath the upper bar of the tying bond 19, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, and support said bond in desired position, the latter being inserted in the core for such engagement through bond slots 20 formed in the side walls 12 of the core at proper points, the slots in one side wall be ing of course positioned in alinement with the corresponding slots in the other side wall to insure the bond, when being inserted in the core, being disposed in proper relation to the members of the block to be molded, the upper wall of said slots acting as a stop to determine correct vertical adjustment of the bond.

Disposed in spaced parallel relation laterally of the side walls 4 of the mold and approximately the full width thereof is a pair of bearing blocks 21, each provided with a plurality of apertures 22, the latter alined with corresponding apertures 23.

formed in the side walls of the mold, the apertures in the upper and lower bearing blocks being positioned in vertical alinement and being designed to receive and maintain in fixed parallel relation a pair of locking rods 24, formed preferably U-shape as illustrated in Fig. 2. These locking rods, thus supported in bearing blocks 21, are adapted for movement longitudinally of the core and mold and their free ends, when said rods are in looking position, extend an appreciable distance into the core from each end thereof and lie closely contiguous the inner faces of the side walls and lock the core in desired fixed position while the block is being molded, any disadvantageous lateral movement of the core being thus effectually prevented. The ends of the locking rods are provided with removable retaining pins 25, said ends and pins being designed, when the rods are in retracted position, to enter suitably-formed enlargements of apertures 23 and lie flush with the inner face of their respective side walls of the mold to permit perfectly free and unimpeded collapse of the core when desired, said pins preventing accidental disengagement of the locking rods and the sides of the mold section while permitting removal of said locking rods and their insertion in other apertures to lock the core in various positions laterally of the mold section to form blocks provided with members of different thickness, as obvious.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Assuming that the opened mold section is operatively positioned on the pallet plate, the tying bonds are inserted in bond slots 20 until said bonds abut the upper walls thereof, latches 16 moved toward the side walls of the mold through apertures 18 in angle plates 13 until the free ends of said latches engage beneath the upper bar of the tying bonds, the core being centrally positioned in the mold section if a block provided with members of equal thickness is to be molded, or nearer to the front or rear wall of the mold section if a block provided with members of unequal thickness is to be formed, as desired. The side walls of the mold section are now swung toward the front of the mold and face plate 2 securely locked in place. Locking rods 24:, inserted in the proper set of apertures 22 to accord with the position of the core, are moved inwardly and, frictionally engaging the inner faces of the core sides, prevent any lateral movement of the core. The plastic material is now introduced into the mold section and tamped about the core in sufficient quantity to form a block of desired thickness. \Vhen the material has sufliciently set the bondsupporting latches are moved out of engagement with the bonds, which of course remain embedded in the block, locking rods 24 withdrawn from locking contact with the core sides and an upward pull given the core top which results in a vertical movement of angle plates 13 and incidentally grooves let, thus drawing core sides 12, through their connection by lugs 15 with said grooves, toward each other and collapsing the core, which, thus disengaged from the block material, can be lifted from the mold, the bond, as before stated, being left embedded in the block. The face plate 2 is now disconnected from the mold sides, which are swung back off of the pallet plate which, with the molded block is removed from the mold stand and another pallet plate positioned and the process repeated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus for molding a bonded block comprising a mold section, a collapsible core, means for operating the core, a bond, and means slidably mounted in the core-operating means to engage and support the bond.

2. An apparatus for molding a' bonded block comprising a mold section, a collapsible core, means including a head plate for operating the core, a bond and latches slidably mounted in the head plate and designed to engage and support the bond during the molding operation.

3. A collapsible core for molding apparatus including core sections, each formed with looking lugs arranged on their inner sides, means for operating the sections including a head plate, and angle plates secured to and depending from the head plate, said. angle plates being arranged to operate between the core sections and each formed with angularly related grooves to receive the lugs on the core sections, and bond-supporting latches slidably mounted in the head plate and projected through openings formed in the angle plates.

In testimony whereof, I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LUDWIG B. LARSEN.

Witnesses: a

A. W. PARSHLEY, J. P. DUNSETH. 

